And Sheep Makes Six

Yesterday, Doug and I took another taxi into Banjul (the capital) to collect our tax ID cards. After 10 minutes of trying unsuccessfully to get onto a van taxi, we opted for a more expensive yellow taxi ride. We climbed in, as did two other passengers. Then the driver opened the hatchback, and I thought, "Oh my goodness, they're going to put a passenger in the trunk?" And they did, except the passenger was a four-legged one, not a two-legged one. With some grunting and shoving, the driver and another man managed to get a SHEEP into the hatchback of the car. Doug was sitting in the backseat with two other people, and unfortunately for him, the sheep's butt was about two inches from his head. I suddenly felt very happy that I'd climbed into the front seat of the car! Every time the driver honked at another the car, the sheep let out a loud bleat. It was really funny and also a little unnerving. I was afraid the sheep would poo on Doug or something, but it worked out OK.

Halfway to Banjul, the man in the backseat started speaking urgently to the driver. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but the driver pulled over and slowed down. Suddenly I realized that the air around the car was filling with horrible smoke. Doug told me that the men were saying we needed to get out of the car. As the smoke enveloped the car, we climbed out and walked quickly away. When I turned around to look, the car was totally engulfed by a huge cloud of disgusting brown fumes. Apparently we have bad luck with taxis! We started walking toward Banjul and walked for probably about 1/2 a mile until a taxi pulled over to offer a ride. It was the same driver! I guess he figured out some way to fix his car. He drove us the rest of the way to Banjul and we got the receipts for our tax ID numbers but couldn't get our actual cards because "the printer is broken." Sigh.

On the drive back, I used my phone to take some pictures out the window. I hope these give you a bit of a sense of our surroundings.

In other news, today we went house hunting! We found a place we really like, and we're hoping to negotiate the price down a bit and sign a lease tomorrow. I took some pictures of it, but I don't want to post them yet until we know it's ours, since I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high in case for some reason it doesn't work out. Cross your fingers for us, though!

 

A city mural honoring the president

Notice the girl with the tray of water baggies on her head

My view from the back seat of the van

This is the same type of crowded van taxi that we rode in our on way home

A mosque in Banjul

A shop on the side of the highway on the way home from Banjul

Crossing the bridge to get home from Banjul (Banjul is a small island)

A herd of sheep alongside the highway

A taxi stand (notice all of the old Mercedes)